Comedian Bill Burr Praises Drummers From The Mars Volta + Meshuggah

It's always great to hear someone from the mainstream world recognizing the talents of hard rock and metal. Comedian, actor and screenwriter Bill Burr has always stood in rock's corner, but we generally hear him discuss the more obvious and classic acts, especially in his tirade about Yoko Ono interrupting John Lennon's joint performance with Chuck Berry. On a recent episode of his own The Monday Morning Podcast (audio below), Burr went on to praise the drummers from both The Mars Volta and Meshuggah.

"Dude I know I’m like f--king over 10 years late on this thing—but I am an old guy. I’ve just been listening to the first two The Mars Volta albums and I gotta tell you, Jon Theodore is a f--king genius drummer. …’Viscera Eyes‘… Any drummers out there, you gotta listen to that f--king song and you gotta learn how to play it," Burr boasted (transcription via The PRP), adding, "You can’t be a drummer, listen to that, and not wanna… At least that opening drum groove. I don’t know what the f--k he’s doing on the breakdown in the end but it’s one of the sickest f--king drum grooves I’ve ever heard in my life."

Flipping over to the metal side, Burr explained how he was unable to comprehend Meshuggah's music in the past. The band is lauded for their highly-cerebral playing which centers around polyrhythms and the world-class talents of skinsman Tomas Haake. "My drum teacher a long time ago told me to get into this band Meshuggah and I listened to it and it was too advanced, I couldn’t hear what was… It was just too much s--t to be listened to," the comedian admitted.

"But because I’ve been listening to Mars Volta and their crazy s--t, I actually went back because I was scrolling through looking for Mars Volta and I had this Meshuggah album for the longest time and I went back and listened to it and I think I’m finally starting to like — I always knew it was amazing but now I am actually f--king into it," said Burr. "I keep listening to that first song—I’m babystepping my way into it, this music is way advanced for my limited musical abilities. But that first song 'Stengah' [off 2002's Nothing] — the drumming on that, the whole f--king thing is unbelievable."